Method and apparatus for outputting audio in electronic device

ABSTRACT

A method and device for processing an audio output in consideration of the hearing characteristics of a user and the characteristics of an audio device connected to an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a user interface; an audio interface configured to establish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and at least one processor electrically connected to the user interface, the memory, and the audio interface, wherein the at least one processor is configured to acquire at least one of identification information of the audio device and characteristics of the audio device, select audio adaptation information, change an audio signal, at least partially based on the audio adaptation information, and transmit the changed audio signal to the audio device.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to KoreanPatent Application Serial No. 10-2015-0113979, which was filed in theKorean Intellectual Property Office on Aug. 12, 2015, the entire contentof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure generally relates to a method and device foroutputting audio in an electronic device, and more particularly, to amethod and device for processing an audio output in consideration of thehearing characteristics of a user and the characteristics of an audiodevice connected to an electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the recent development of digital technologies, various types ofelectronic devices such as a mobile communication terminal, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant(PDA), an electronic notebook, a notebook PC, a wearable device, and atelevision (TV) are widely used. Further, an electronic device may beconnected to various types of audio devices (e.g. audio output devices,such as a wired headphone, a wired earphone, a wireless headphone, and awireless earphone). The electronic device may output audio data (e.g., asound source), which is being reproduced, through an audio deviceconnected thereto and a user may listen to audio data of the electronicdevice through the audio device. The electronic device and the audiodevice may be connected to each other through a wired interface (e.g. aphysical connector connection) or a wireless interface (e.g. Bluetoothconnection).

Audio devices, which are used while connected to an electronic device,have different sound qualities and characteristics (e.g. frequencycharacteristic) according to the type of audio device (e.g. a wirelessheadphone, a wired headphone, a wireless earphone, and a wiredearphone). For example, a low frequency band may be strengthened or ahigh frequency band may be equalized according to the characteristics ofthe audio device. Each audio device may have different frequencyresponse characteristics. Therefore, an audio output from the electronicdevice may be provided to a user with different results according to thecharacteristics of the audio device. Moreover, when the characteristicsof the audio device do not correspond to the hearing characteristics ofthe user, the user may be provided with different audio reproductionresults.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus foroutputting audio which may automatically convert an audio output inconsideration of the characteristics of the audio device and the hearingcharacteristics of the user in an electronic device.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method and apparatusfor outputting audio, which may automatically update, when an audiodevice is changed, audio compensation information for compensating forthe changed audio device and the hearing characteristics of a user in anelectronic device.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readablerecording medium having a program recorded therein to perform the methodby a processor.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic deviceis provided including a user interface, an audio interface configured toestablish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and at least oneprocessor electrically connected to the user interface, the memory, andthe audio interface, wherein the at least one processor is configured toacquire at least one of identification information of the audio deviceand characteristics of the audio device, select audio adaptationinformation, change an audio signal, at least partially based on theaudio adaptation information, and transmit the changed audio signal tothe audio device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided including a communication interface configured toestablish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and one or moreprocessors that are electrically connected to the communicationinterface and the memory, wherein the one or more processors performdetermining audio adaptation information related to the audio device inresponse to the connection of the audio device, correcting an audiooutput corresponding to the audio device on the basis of the audioadaptation information when the audio adaption information has beenregistered, and updating, when the audio adaption information has notbeen registered, the audio adaptation information related to the audiodevice and correcting an audio output corresponding to thecharacteristics of the audio device on the basis of the updated audioadaptation information.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided including a wired or wireless interface configured toestablish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and one or moreprocessors that are electrically connected to the memory and the wiredor wireless interface, wherein the memory, at the time of execution, maybe configured to store instructions that instruct the one or moreprocessors to, establish audio adaptation information on the basis ofthe frequency characteristics of the audio device and the hearingcharacteristics of a user, detect a connection of the audio device,determine audio adaptation information related to a connected audiodevice, convert a currently established audio output characteristic toan audio output characteristic corresponding to the connected audiodevice on the basis of the determined audio adaptation information, andprocess an audio output on the basis of the converted audio outputcharacteristic.

According to another aspects of the present disclosure, an operationmethod of an electronic device is provided including detecting aconnection of an audio device, acquiring at least one of identificationinformation of the audio device and characteristics of the audio device,selecting audio adaptation information, changing an audio signal, atleast partially based on the audio adaptation information, andtransmitting the changed audio signal to the audio device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an operationmethod of an electronic device is provided including detecting aconnection of an audio device, determining audio adaptation informationrelated to the audio device in response to the connection of the audiodevice, correcting an audio output corresponding to the audio device onthe basis of the audio adaptation information when the audio adaptioninformation has been registered, updating audio adaptation informationrelated to the audio device when the audio adaption information has notbeen registered, and correcting an audio output corresponding to acharacteristic of the audio device on the basis of the updated audioadaptation information.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitoryrecording medium includes a computer-readable non-transitory recordingmedium which records a program for executing in an electronic device,detecting a connection of an audio device, acquiring at least one ofidentification information and characteristics of the audio device, atleast partially based on the connection to the audio device, selectingpre-stored audio adaptation information, at least partially based on theacquired information and/or characteristics, changing an audio signal,at least partially based on the audio adaptation information, andtransmitting the changed audio signal to the audio device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including an electronic device,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device, accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a program module, according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates processing an audio output according to acharacteristic of a connected audio device in an electronic device,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic device,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic device,according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic device,according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9A illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9B illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 10A illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 10B illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for outputting audio in anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for correcting an audiooutput in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for processing an audiooutput in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for creating audiocompensation information in an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for creating audiocompensation information in an electronic device according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method for creating audiocompensation information in an electronic device according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17A illustrates a user interface for establishing an audio outputin an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 17B illustrates a user interface for establishing an audio outputin an electronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 18A illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18B illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 18C illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 20 illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, itshould be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to theparticular forms disclosed herein, rather, the present disclosure shouldbe construed to cover various modifications, equivalents, and/oralternatives of embodiments of the present disclosure. In describing thedrawings, similar reference numerals may be used to designate similarconstituent elements.

As used herein, the expressions “have”, “may have”, “include”, or “mayinclude” refers to the existence of a corresponding feature (e.g.,numeral, function, operation, or constituent element such as component),and do not exclude one or more additional features.

In the present disclosure, the expressions “A or B”, “at least one of Aor/and B”, or “one or more of A or/and B” may include all possiblecombinations of the items listed. For example, the expressions “A or B”,“at least one of A and B”, or “at least one of A or B” refer to all of(1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3)including all of at least one A and at least one B.

The expressions “a first”, “a second”, “the first”, or “the second” usedin various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify variouscomponents regardless of the order and/or the importance but do notlimit the corresponding components. For example, a first user device anda second user device indicate different user devices, although both ofthem are user devices. For example, a first element may be referred toas a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred toas a first element without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

It should be understood that when an element (e.g., first element) isreferred to as being (operatively or communicatively) “connected,” or“coupled,” to another element (e.g., second element), it may be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or any other element (e.g.,third element) may be interposed between them. In contrast, it may beunderstood that when an element (e.g., first element) is referred to asbeing “directly connected,” or “directly coupled” to another element(second element), there are no elements (e.g., third element) interposedbetween them.

The expression “configured to” used in the present disclosure may beused interchangeably with, for example, “suitable for”, “having thecapacity to”, “designed to”, “adapted to”, “made to”, or “capable of”according to the situation. The term “configured to” may not necessarilyimply “specifically designed to” in hardware. Alternatively, in somesituations, the expression “device configured to” may mean that thedevice, together with other devices or components, “is able to”. Forexample, the phrase “processor adapted (or configured) to perform A, B,and C” may refer to a dedicated processor (e.g. embedded processor) onlyfor performing the corresponding operations or a general-purposeprocessor (e.g., central processing unit (CPU) or application processor(AP)) that may perform the corresponding operations by executing one ormore software programs stored in a memory device.

The terms used in the present disclosure are only used to describespecific embodiments, and do not limit the present disclosure. As usedherein, singular forms may include plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all termsused herein, including technical and scientific terms, have the samemeaning as those commonly understood by a person skilled in the art towhich the present disclosure pertains. Such terms as those defined in agenerally used dictionary may be interpreted to have the same meaningsas the contextual meanings in the relevant field of art, and are not tobe interpreted to have ideal or excessively formal meanings unlessclearly defined in the present disclosure. In some cases, even the termsdefined in the present disclosure should not be interpreted to excludeembodiments of the present disclosure.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), amobile phone, a video phone, an electronic book reader (e-book reader),a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a workstation, a server,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP),a MPEG-1 audio layer-3 (MP3) player, a mobile medical device, a camera,and a wearable device. The wearable device may include at least one ofan accessory type (e.g., a watch, a ring, a bracelet, an anklet, anecklace, eyeglasses, contact lens, a head-mounted device (HMD)), fabricor clothing integrated type (e.g., an electronic clothing), abody-mounted type (e.g., a skin pad, or tattoo), and a bio-implantabletype (e.g., an implantable circuit).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may be a home appliance. The home appliance mayinclude a television, a digital video disk (DVD) player, an audioplayer, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, amicrowave oven, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a homeautomation control panel, a security control panel, a TV box (e.g.,Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™, or Google TV™), a game console (e.g.,Xbox™ and PlayStation™), an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, acamcorder, and an electronic photo frame.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may include various medical devices (e.g., variousportable medical measuring devices (a blood glucose monitoring device, aheart rate monitoring device, a blood pressure measuring device, a bodytemperature measuring device, etc.), a magnetic resonance angiography(MRA), a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a computed tomography (CT)machine, and an ultrasonic machine), a navigation device, a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), aflight data recorder (FDR), a vehicle infotainment device, an electronicdevice for a ship (e.g., a navigation device for a ship, and agyro-compass), avionics, security devices, an automotive head unit, arobot for home or industry, an automatic teller machine (ATM), point ofsales (POS) terminal, or Internet of things (IoT) device (e.g., a lightbulb, various sensors, electric or gas meter, a sprinkler device, a firealarm, a thermostat, a streetlamp, a toaster, sporting goods, a hotwater tank, a heater, a boiler, etc.).

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device may include at least one of a part of furniture or abuilding/structure, an electronic board, an electronic signaturereceiving device, a projector, and various types of measuringinstruments (e.g., a water meter, an electric meter, a gas meter, and aradio wave meter). The electronic device may be a combination of one ormore of the aforementioned various devices. The electronic device may bea flexible device. Further, the electronic device is not limited to theaforementioned devices, and may include a new electronic deviceaccording to the development of new technology.

Hereinafter, an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. As used herein, the term “user” may indicate aperson who uses an electronic device or a device (e.g., an artificialintelligence electronic device) that uses an electronic device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

An electronic device 101 within a network environment 100, according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described withreference to FIG. 1. The electronic device 101 includes a bus 110, aprocessor 120, a memory 130, an input/output interface 150, a display160, and a communication interface 170. The electronic device 101 mayomit at least one of the above components or may further include othercomponents.

The bus 110 may include, for example, a circuit which interconnects thecomponents 110 to 170 and delivers a communication (e.g., a controlmessage and/or data) between the components 110 to 170.

The processor 120 may include one or more of a central processing unit(CPU), an application processor (AP), and a communication processor(CP). The processor 120 may carry out, for example, calculation or dataprocessing relating to control and/or communication of at least oneother component of the electronic device 101.

The memory 130 may include a volatile memory and/or a non-volatilememory. The memory 130 may store, for example, commands or data relevantto at least one other component of the electronic device 101. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 130 may storesoftware and/or a program 140. The program 140 includes, for example, akernel 141, middleware 143, an application programming interface (API)145, and/or application programs (or “applications”) 147. At least someof the kernel 141, the middleware 143, and the API 145 may be referredto as an operating system (OS).

The kernel 141 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus110, the processor 120, or the memory 130) used for performing anoperation or function implemented in the other programs (e.g., themiddleware 143, the API 145, or the application programs 147).Furthermore, the kernel 141 may provide an interface through which themiddleware 143, the API 145, or the application programs 147 may accessthe individual components of the electronic device 101 to control ormanage the system resources.

The middleware 143, for example, may serve as an intermediary forallowing the API 145 or the application programs 147 to communicate withthe kernel 141 to exchange data.

The middleware 143 may process one or more task requests received fromthe application programs 147 according to assigned priorities. Forexample, the middleware 143 may assign priorities for using the systemresources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor 120, the memory 130, and thelike) of the electronic device 101, to at least one of the applicationprograms 147. For example, the middleware 143 may perform scheduling orload balancing on the one or more task requests by processing the one ormore task requests according to the assigned priorities.

The API 145 is an interface through which the applications 147 controlfunctions provided from the kernel 141 or the middleware 143, and mayinclude, for example, at least one interface or function (e.g.,instruction) for file control, window control, image processing,character control, and the like.

The input/output interface 150 may function as an interface thattransfers commands or data input from a user or another external deviceto the other element(s) of the electronic device 101. Furthermore, theinput/output interface 150 may output the commands or data received fromthe other element(s) of the electronic device 101 to the user or anotherexternal device.

The display 160 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), alight-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light-emitting diode(OLED) display, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, and anelectronic paper display. The display 160 may display, for example,various types of content (e.g., text, images, videos, icons, or symbols)to users. The display 160 may include a touch screen, and may receive,for example, a touch, gesture, proximity, or hovering input using anelectronic pen or a user's body part.

The communication interface 170 may establish communication, forexample, between the electronic device 101 and a first externalelectronic device 102, a second external electronic device 104, or aserver 106. For example, the communication interface 170 may beconnected to a network 162 through wireless or wired communication, andmay communicate with the second external electronic device 104 or theserver 106. The wireless communication may use at least one of, forexample, long term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), and globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), as a cellular communicationprotocol. In addition, the wireless communication may include, forexample, short range communication 164. The short-range communication164 may include at least one of, for example, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, nearfield communication (NFC), and global navigation satellite system(GNSS). GNSS may include, for example, at least one of globalpositioning system (GPS), global navigation satellite system (Glonass),Beidou navigation satellite system (Beidou) or Galileo, and the Europeanglobal satellite-based navigation system, based on a location, abandwidth, and the like. Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, the“GPS” may be interchangeably used with the “GNSS”. The wiredcommunication may include, for example, at least one of a universalserial bus (USB), a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI),recommended standard 232 (RS-232), and a plain old telephone service(POTS). The network 162 may include at least one of a telecommunicationnetwork such as a computer network (e.g., a LAN or a WAN), the Internet,and a telephone network.

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 102 and 104,may be of a type identical to or different from that of the electronicdevice 101. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theserver 106 may include a group of one or more servers.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, all or someof the operations performed in the electronic device 101 may be executedin another electronic device or a plurality of electronic devices (e.g.,the electronic devices 102 and 104 or the server 106). When theelectronic device 101 has to perform some functions or servicesautomatically or in response to a request, the electronic device 101 mayrequest another electronic device 102 or 104 or the server 106, toexecute at least some functions relating thereto instead of, or inaddition to, autonomously performing the functions or services. Anotherelectronic device 102 or 104, or the server 106 may execute therequested functions or the additional functions, and may deliver aresult of the execution to the electronic device 101. The electronicdevice 101 may process the received result as it is or additionally, andmay provide the requested functions or services. To this end, forexample, cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-servercomputing technologies may be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

The electronic device 201 may include, for example, the entire or a partof the electronic device 101 shown in FIG. 1. The electronic device 201includes one or more processors 210 (e.g., application processors (AP)),a communication module 220, a subscriber identification module (SIM)224, a memory 230, a sensor module 240, an input device 250, a display260, an interface 270, an audio module 280, a camera module 291, a powermanagement module 295, a battery 296, an indicator 297, and a motor 298.

The processor 210 may control a plurality of hardware or softwarecomponents connected to the processor 210 by driving an operating systemor an application program, and perform processing of various types ofdata and calculations. The processor 210 may be embodied as, forexample, a system on chip (SoC). According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the processor 210 may further include a graphicprocessing unit (GPU) and/or an image signal processor. The processor210 may include at least some (for example, a cellular module 221) ofthe components illustrated in FIG. 2. The processor 210 may load, into avolatile memory, commands or data received from at least one (e.g., anon-volatile memory) of the other components and may process the loadedcommands or data, and may store various data in a non-volatile memory.

The communication module 220 may have a configuration equal or similarto that of the communication interface 170 of FIG. 1. The communicationmodule 220 includes a cellular module 221, a Wi-Fi module 223, a BTmodule 225, a GNSS module 227 (e.g., a GPS module 227, a Glonass module,a Beidou module, or a Galileo module), an NFC module 228, and a radiofrequency (RF) module 229.

The cellular module 221, for example, may provide a voice call, a videocall, a text message service, or an Internet access service through acommunication network. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the cellular module 221 may distinguish and authenticate theelectronic device 201 in a communication network using the SIM card 224.The cellular module 221 may perform at least some of the functions thatthe AP 210 may provide. The cellular module 221 may include acommunication processor (CP).

Each of the Wi-Fi module 223, the BT module 225, the GNSS module 227,and the NFC module 228 may include a processor for processing datatransmitted/received through a corresponding module. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, at least some (e.g., two or more)of the cellular module 221, the Wi-Fi module 223, the BT module 225, theGNSS module 227, and the NFC module 228 may be included in oneintegrated chip (IC) or IC package.

The RF module 229, for example, may transmit/receive a communicationsignal (e.g., an RF signal). The RF module 229 may include, for example,a transceiver, a power amplifier module (PAM), a frequency filter, a lownoise amplifier (LNA), and an antenna. According to another embodimentof the present disclosure, at least one of the cellular module 221, theWIFI module 223, the BT module 225, the GNSS module 227, and the NFCmodule 228 may transmit/receive an RF signal through a separate RFmodule.

The SIM 224 may include a card including an embedded SIM, and maycontain unique identification information (e.g., an integrated circuitcard identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., aninternational mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory 230 (e.g., the memory 130) includes an embedded memory 232 oran external memory 234. The embedded memory 232 may include at least oneof a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), astatic RAM (SRAM), a synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and the like) anda non-volatile memory (e.g., a one time programmable read only memory(OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable and programmable ROM(EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a maskROM, a flash ROM, a flash memory (e.g., a NAND flash memory or a NORflash memory), a hard disc drive, a solid state drive (SSD), and thelike).

The external memory 234 may further include a flash drive, for example,a compact flash (CF), a secure digital (SD), a micro secure digital(Micro-SD), a mini secure digital (Mini-SD), an extreme digital (xD), amultimediacard (MMC), a memory stick, and the like. The external memory234 may be functionally and/or physically connected to the electronicdevice 201 through various interfaces.

The sensor module 240, for example, may measure a physical quantity ordetect an operation state of the electronic device 201, and may convertthe measured or detected information into an electrical signal. Thesensor module 240 includes at least one of a gesture sensor 240A, a gyrosensor 240B, an atmospheric pressure sensor (barometer) 240C, a magneticsensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, aproximity sensor 240G, a color sensor 240H (e.g., red, green, and blue(RGB) sensor), a biometric sensor (medical sensor) 240I, atemperature/humidity sensor 240J, an illuminance sensor 240K, and aultra violet (UV) sensor 240M. Additionally or alternatively, the sensormodule 240 may include, for example, an E-nose sensor, anelectromyography (EMG) sensor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, anelectrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an iris scansensor, and/or a fingerprint scan sensor. The sensor module 240 mayfurther include a control circuit for controlling one or more sensorsincluded therein. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure,the electronic device 201 may further include a processor configured tocontrol the sensor module 240, as a part of the processor 210 orseparately from the processor 210, and may control the sensor module 240while the processor 210 is in a sleep state.

The input device 250 may include, for example, a touch panel 252, a(digital) pen sensor 254, a key 256, or an ultrasonic input device 258.The touch panel 252 may use, for example, at least one of a capacitivetype, a resistive type, an infrared type, and an ultrasonic type. Thetouch panel 252 may further include a control circuit. The touch panel252 may further include a tactile layer, and provide a tactile reactionto the user.

The (digital) pen sensor 254 may include, for example, a recognitionsheet which is a part of the touch panel or is separated from the touchpanel. The key 256 may include, for example, a physical button, anoptical key or a keypad. The ultrasonic input device 258 may detect,through a microphone 288, ultrasonic waves generated by an input tool,and identify data corresponding to the detected ultrasonic waves.

The display 260 (e.g., the display 160) may include a panel 262, ahologram device 264, or a projector 266. The panel 262 may include aconfiguration identical or similar to the display 160 illustrated inFIG. 1. The panel 262 may be flexible, transparent, or wearable. Thepanel 262 may be embodied as a single module with the touch panel 252.The hologram device 264 may show a three dimensional (3D) image in theair by using an interference of light. The projector 266 may projectlight onto a screen to display an image. The screen may be located, forexample, in the interior of, or on the exterior of, the electronicdevice 201. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thedisplay 260 may further include a control circuit for controlling thepanel 262, the hologram device 264, or the projector 266.

The interface 270 may include, for example, a high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) 272, a universal serial bus (USB) 274, an opticalinterface 276, or a d-subminiature (D-sub) 278. The interface 270 may beincluded in, for example, the communication interface 170 illustrated inFIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 270 may include,for example, a mobile high-definition link (MHL) interface, a securedigital (SD) card/multi-media card (MMC) interface, or an infrared dataassociation (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 280, for example, may bidirectionally convert a soundand an electrical signal. At least some components of the audio module280 may be included in, for example, the input/output interface 150illustrated in FIG. 1. The audio module 280 may process voiceinformation input or output through, for example, a speaker 282, areceiver 284, earphones 286, or the microphone 288.

The camera module 291 may photograph a still image and a video.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the camera module291 may include one or more image sensors (e.g., a front sensor or aback sensor), a lens, an image signal processor (ISP) or a flash (e.g.,LED or xenon lamp).

The power management module 295 may manage, for example, power of theelectronic device 201. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the power management module 295 may include a powermanagement integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger integrated circuit (IC),or a battery gauge. The PMIC may use a wired and/or wireless chargingmethod. Examples of the wireless charging method may include, forexample, a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, anelectromagnetic wave method, and the like. Additional circuits (e.g., acoil loop, a resonance circuit, a rectifier, etc.) for wireless chargingmay be further included. The battery gauge may measure, for example, aresidual charge quantity of the battery 296, and a voltage, a current,or a temperature while charging. The battery 296 may include, forexample, a rechargeable battery and/or a solar battery.

The indicator 297 may display a particular state (e.g., a booting state,a message state, a charging state, and the like) of the electronicdevice 201 or a part (e.g., the processor 210) of the electronic device201. The motor 298 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanicalvibration, and may generate a vibration, a haptic effect, and the like.The electronic device 201 may include a processing device (e.g., a GPU)for supporting a mobile TV. The processing device for supporting amobile TV may process, for example, media data according to a certainstandard such as digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital videobroadcasting (DVB), or mediaFLO™.

Each of the above-described component elements of hardware according tothe present disclosure, may be configured with one or more components,and the names of the corresponding component elements may vary based onthe type of electronic device. In various embodiments, the electronicdevice may include at least one of the above-described elements. Some ofthe above-described elements may be omitted from the electronic device,or the electronic device may further include additional elements. Also,some of the components according to various embodiments may be combinedinto one entity, which may perform functions identical to those of therelevant components before the combination.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a program module according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the program module310 (e.g., the program 140) may include an operating system (OS) forcontrolling resources related to the electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101) and/or various applications (e.g., theapplication programs 147) executed in the operating system. Theoperating system may be, for example, Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian,Tizen, Bada, and the like.

The program module 310 includes a kernel 320, middleware 330, an API360, and/or applications 370. At least some of the program module 310may be preloaded on an electronic device, or may be downloaded from anexternal electronic device 102 or 104, or the server 106.

The kernel 320 (e.g., the kernel 141) includes a system resource manager321 and/or a device driver 323. The system resource manager 321 maycontrol, allocate, or collect system resources. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the system resource manager 321may include a process management unit, a memory management unit, a filesystem management unit, and the like. The device driver 323 may include,for example, a display driver, a camera driver, a Bluetooth driver, ashared memory driver, a USB driver, a keypad driver, a Wi-Fi driver, anaudio driver, or an inter-process communication (IPC) driver.

The middleware 330 may provide a function required in common by theapplications 370, or may provide various functions to the applications370 through the API 360 so as to enable the applications 370 toefficiently use the limited system resources in the electronic device.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the middleware 330(e.g., the middleware 143) includes a run time library 335, anapplication manager 341, a window manager 342, a multimedia manager 343,a resource manager 344, a power manager 345, a database manager 346, apackage manager 347, a connectivity manager 348, a notification manager349, a location manager 350, a graphic manager 351, and a securitymanager 352.

The runtime library 335 may include a library module that a compileruses in order to add a new function through a programming language whilean application 370 is being executed. The runtime library 335 mayperform input/output management, memory management, an arithmeticfunction, and the like.

The application manager 341 may manage, for example, a life cycle of atleast one of the applications 370. The window manager 342 may managegraphical user interface (GUI) resources used by a screen. Themultimedia manager 343 may recognize a format required for reproductionof various media files, and may perform encoding or decoding of a mediafile by using a codec suitable for the corresponding format. Theresource manager 344 may manage resources of a source code, a memory,and a storage space of at least one of the applications 370.

The power manager 345 may operate together with, for example, a basicinput/output system (BIOS) and the like, to manage a battery or powersource and may provide power information and the like, required for theoperations of the electronic device. The database manager 346 maygenerate, search a memory for, and/or change a database to be used by atleast one of the applications 370. The package manager 347 may manageinstallation or an update of an application distributed in a form of apackage file.

The connectivity manager 348 may manage wireless connectivity such asWi-Fi or Bluetooth. The notification manager 349 may display or notifyof an event such as an arrival message, proximity notification, and thelike, in such a way that does not disturb a user. The location manager350 may manage location information of an electronic device. The graphicmanager 351 may manage a graphic effect which will be provided to auser, or a user interface related to the graphic effect. The securitymanager 352 may provide all security functions required for systemsecurity, user authentication, and the like. According to an embodimentof the present disclosure, when the electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 101) has a telephone call function, the middleware 330may further include a telephony manager for managing a voice callfunction or a video call function of the electronic device.

The middleware 330 may include a middleware module that forms acombination of various functions of the above-described components. Themiddleware 330 may provide a module specialized for each OS in order toprovide a differentiated function. Further, the middleware 330 maydynamically remove some of the existing components or add newcomponents.

The API 360 (e.g., the API 145) is, for example, a set of APIprogramming functions, and may be provided with a differentconfiguration according to an OS. For example, in the case of Android oriOS, one API set may be provided for each platform. In the case ofTizen, two or more API sets may be provided for each platform.

The applications 370 include one or more applications which may providefunctions such as a home 371, a dialer 372, an SMS/MMS 373, an instantmessage (IM) 374, a browser 375, a camera 376, an alarm 377, contacts378, a voice dial 379, an email 380, a calendar 381, a media player 382,an album 383, a clock 384, health care (e.g., measuring exercisequantity or blood sugar levels), or environment information (e.g.,providing atmospheric pressure, humidity, or temperature information).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the applications370 may include an information exchange application that supportsexchanging information between the electronic device 101 and an externalelectronic device 102 or 104. The information exchange application mayinclude, for example, a notification relay application for transferringspecific information to an external electronic device or a devicemanagement application for managing an external electronic device.

For example, the notification relay application may include a functionof transferring, to the external electronic device 102 or 104,notification information generated from other applications of theelectronic device 101 (e.g., an SMS/MMS application, an e-mailapplication, a health management application, or an environmentalinformation application). Further, the notification relay applicationmay receive notification information from, for example, an externalelectronic device 102 or 104, and provide the received notificationinformation to a user.

The device management application may manage (e.g., install, delete, orupdate), for example, at least one function of an external electronicdevice 102 or 104, communicating with the electronic device (e.g., afunction of turning on/off the external electronic device itself (orsome components) or a function of adjusting the brightness (or aresolution) of the display), applications operating in the externalelectronic device, and services provided by the external electronicdevice (e.g., a call service or a message service).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the applications370 may include applications (e.g., a health care application of amobile medical appliance and the like) designated according to anexternal electronic device 102 or 104. The applications 370 may includean application received from an external electronic device 102 or 104 orthe server 106. The applications 370 may include a preloaded applicationor a third party application that may be downloaded from a server 106.The names of the components of the program module 310 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may change according to the type ofoperating system.

At least a part of the programming module 310 may be implemented insoftware, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof.At least some of the program module 310 may be implemented (e.g.,executed) by, for example, the processor (e.g., the processor 1410). Atleast some of the program module 310 may include, for example, a module,a program, a routine, a set of instructions, and/or a process forperforming one or more functions.

The term “module” as used herein may, for example, refer to a unitincluding one of hardware, software, or firmware or a combination of twoor more of them. The term “module” may be interchangeably used with, forexample, the terms “unit”, “logic”, “logical block”, “component”, or“circuit”. The “module” may be a minimum unit of an integrated componentelement or a part thereof. The “module” may be a minimum unit forperforming one or more functions or a part thereof. The “module” may bemechanically or electronically implemented. For example, the “module”according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include atleast one of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, afield-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and a programmable-logic devicefor performing operations which has been known or are to be developedhereinafter.

At least some of the devices (for example, modules or functions thereof)or the method (for example, operations) according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be implemented by a command stored in anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium in a programming moduleform. The instruction, when executed by a processor (e.g., the processor120), may cause the one or more processors to execute the functioncorresponding to the instruction. The non-transitory computer-readablerecoding medium may be, for example, the memory 130.

The non-transitory computer readable recoding medium may include a harddisk, a floppy disk, magnetic media (e.g., a magnetic tape), opticalmedia (e.g., a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and a digitalversatile disc (DVD)), magneto-optical media (e.g., a floptical disk), ahardware device (e.g., a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory(RAM), a flash memory), and the like. In addition, the programinstructions may include high level language codes, which may beexecuted in a computer by using an interpreter, as well as machine codesmade by a compiler. The aforementioned hardware device may be configuredto operate as one or more software modules in order to perform theoperations of the present disclosure, and vice versa.

Any of the modules or programming modules according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of theabove described elements, exclude some of the elements, or furtherinclude other additional elements. The operations performed by themodules, programming module, or other elements according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be executed in a sequential,parallel, repetitive, or heuristic manner. Further, some operations maybe executed according to another order or may be omitted, or otheroperations may be added.

Various embodiments disclosed herein are provided merely to describetechnical details of the present disclosure and to help theunderstanding of the present disclosure, and do not limit the scope ofthe present disclosure. Therefore, it should be construed that allmodifications and changes or modified and changed forms based on thetechnical idea of the present disclosure fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a method andapparatus for outputting audio. The method and apparatus mayautomatically convert an audio output and may output the converted audiooutput, according to the characteristics (e.g. frequencycharacteristics) of an audio device, which are combined with hearingcharacteristics, when a user connects the audio device to an electronicdevice and uses an audio solution considering the hearingcharacteristics of the user. Various embodiments of the presentdisclosure disclose a method and apparatus for outputting audio, whichmay automatically update and establish audio compensation information inconsideration of the characteristics of a connected audio device and thehearing characteristics of a user when a connection of an audio device,in which audio compensation information (or audio adaptationinformation) (e.g. profile, frequency information) for compensating foran audio output characteristic according to each audio device in anelectronic device is not established, is detected.

The electronic device, according to the various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, may include all information and communicationdevices, multimedia devices, wearable devices, and all applicationdevices thereof that use one or more various processors, such as anapplication processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), a GraphicProcessing Unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU), and the like.

Hereinafter, the method and apparatus for outputting audio will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, sincethe various embodiments are not restricted or limited by the followingdescription, it should be noted that software applications may be madethat will be described below. Hereinafter, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure will be described based on a hardware approach.However, various embodiments of the present disclosure include atechnology that uses both hardware and software and thus, the presentdisclosure may not exclude the use of software.

FIG. 4 illustrates processing an audio output according to acharacteristic of a connected audio device in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 4, a system may include an audio device 450 and an electronicdevice 500.

Referring to FIG. 4, the audio device 450 may include an audio outputdevice which is wired or wirelessly connected to the electronic device500, receives audio data reproduced in the electronic device 500, andoutputs the received audio through a speaker in the audio output device.The audio device 450 includes various devices, such as a wired headphone451, a wireless headphone 453 (e.g. Bluetooth headphone), a wirelessearphone 455 (e.g. Bluetooth earphone), and a wired earphone 457, whichmay be wired or wirelessly connected to the electronic device 500.

Referring to FIG. 4, the electronic device 500 includes a display 400, ahousing (or main body) on which the display 400 is mounted and fastened,and an additional device which is formed on the housing 410 and performsa function of the electronic device. The additional device includes afirst speaker 401, a second speaker 403, a microphone 405, a frontcamera module 407, an illumination sensor 409, a charging or datainput/output port 411, an audio input/output port 413, and a button 415.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the display400 may include a flexible display which may be bent, curved, or rolledwithout damage through a substrate as thin and flexible as paper. Thecurved display has a feature of being coupled to the housing 410 andremaining in a curved form. The electronic device 500 may also beimplemented as a display device, which may be freely bent or unbent,such as a flexible display, including the curved display. The display400 may replace a glass substrate covering a liquid crystal with aplastic film so as to provide flexibility by which the display may befolded or unfolded in a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic LED (OLED), and an active matrix OLED (AMOLED).The display 400 may extend up to at least one side (e.g. at least one ofa left side, a right side, an upper side, and a lower side) of theelectronic device 500, be folded in a radius of curvature (e.g. 5 cm, 1cm, 7.5 mm, 5 mm, 4 mm, etc.) less than a radius of curvature in whichthe curved display may be operated, and be fastened at a side of thehousing 410.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when theaudio device 450 is connected, the electronic device 500 may determineaudio compensation information 470 (e.g. a profile, frequencyinformation, and the like, which are audio adaptation information)corresponding to the audio device 450.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 500 may detect that the audio device 450 is connected, and maysearch a memory for and select, in response to the detection of theconnection of the audio device 450, a particular profile related to theconnected audio device 450 (e.g. audio adaptation information for theaudio device 450) from among profiles pre-established according toidentification information and/or characteristics of the audio device450 (e.g. device identifier (e.g. ID)). The electronic device 500 mayautomatically change a currently established profile to the selectedprofile for an audio output and compensate for the audio outputaccording to the changed profile. The profile may be, for example,information which is registered in advance by combining the hearingcharacteristics of a user with a basic frequency characteristic of theaudio device by using such a method as convolution. A profile is used toprovide audio having sound quality optimized for a user by consideringthe characteristics of an audio device and the hearing characteristicsof the user, and may indicate information established in order tocompensate for an audio output characteristic according to each audiodevice.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 500 may detect a connection of the audio device 450 thereto, andmay search a memory for and select, in response to the detection of theconnection of the audio device 450, particular frequency informationrelated specifically to the audio device 450 from among frequencyinformation pre-established according to a frequency characteristic ofthe audio device 450. The electronic device 500 may automatically changecurrently established frequency information to the selected frequencyinformation for an audio output, and may combine the changed frequencyinformation and the hearing characteristics of a user so as tocompensate for the audio output. For example, the electronic device 500may combine the frequency information of an audio device and the hearingcharacteristics of a user so as to create a profile related to acurrently connected audio device, and may compensate for an audio outputon the basis of the created profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, multiplepieces of information may be stored in the audio compensationinformation 470 according to each audio device 450. A first audiocompensation information 471 may be established for the wired headphone451, a second audio compensation information 473 may be established forthe wireless headphone 453, a third audio compensation information 475may be established for the wireless earphone 455, and a fourth audiocompensation information 477 may be established for the wired earphone457. The audio compensation information 470, such as the first audiocompensation information 471, the second audio compensation information473, the third audio compensation information 475, and the fourth audiocompensation information 477, may be established in advance inconsideration of the hearing characteristics of a user and thecharacteristics of the audio device 450. The audio compensationinformation 477 may be created in real time in consideration of thecharacteristics of the connected audio device 450 and the hearingcharacteristics of the user and then stored in the electronic device500.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when theconnection of the wireless headphone 453 is detected through Bluetoothcommunication, the electronic device 500 may determine the audiocompensation information 473 (e.g. a profile or frequency information)corresponding to the wireless headphone 453 from among multiple piecesof pre-established audio compensation information 470, and may processan operation related to audio compensation and output audio in responseto the determined audio compensation information 473. For example, theelectronic device 500 may process an audio output in consideration of anequal loudness curve and thus may improve a sound quality which a userhears. The equal loudness curve may show levels of sounds generated inpure sine waves of different frequencies when a person without hearingimpairment listens to the sounds and perceives the sounds as equallyloud. Generally, even a sound having physically equal loudness may sounddifferent to a person's ears according to the frequency. For example, inorder for the person's ears to hear a 60-phon sound, a 1 KHz sine waveshould be at a sound pressure level (SPL) of 60 dB and a 100 Hz sinewave should be at an SPL of 78 dB. As described above, even a soundhaving equal loudness may be heard different according to a frequency.In consideration of this point, sound pressure levels according torespective frequencies, which sound like sounds having equal loudness,are experimentally determined, the determined sound pressure levels areon an equal loudness curve.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, examples ofcompensating and outputting audio according to the characteristics ofthe audio device 450 will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electronic device 500 according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure include a wireless communicationunit 510, a user input unit 520, a touch screen 530, an audio processingunit 540, a memory 550, an interface unit 560, a camera module 570, acontroller 580, and a power supply unit 590. The electronic device 500may include fewer or more elements than the elements of FIG. 5.

The wireless communication unit 510 may include a configurationidentical to, or similar to, the communication module 220 of FIG. 2. Thewireless communication unit 510 may include one or more modules whichenable wireless communication between the electronic device 500 and anexternal electronic device. For example, the wireless communication unit510 may include a mobile communication module 511, a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) module 513, a short range communication module 515, and alocation calculation module 517. The wireless communication unit 510 mayinclude a module (e.g. a short range communication module or a longrange communication module) for communicating with an externalelectronic device.

The mobile communication module 511 may have a configuration identicalto, or similar to, the cellular module 221 of FIG. 2. The mobilecommunication module 511 may transmit/receive a wireless signal to/fromat least one of a base station, an external electronic device 104, andvarious servers (e.g. an integration server, a provider server, acontent server, an Internet server, a cloud server, and the like) over amobile communication network. The wireless signal may include a voicesignal, a data signal, or various types of control signals. The mobilecommunication module 511 may transmit, in response to a user's request,various pieces of data required for an operation of the electronicdevice 500 to the external device 104, or the server 106.

The wireless LAN module 513 may have a configuration identical to, orsimilar to, the Wi-Fi module 223 of FIG. 2. The WLAN module 513 mayestablish wireless Internet access and a wireless LAN link with anotherelectronic device 102 or the server 106. The WLAN module 513 may bemounted inside or outside the electronic device 500. Wireless Internetaccess technology may include Wi-Fi, wireless broadband (Wibro), worldinteroperability for microwave access (WiMax), high speed downlinkpacket access (HSDPA), millimeter wave (mmWave), and the like. The WLANmodule 513 may be linked with another external electronic device, whichis connected through the electronic device 500 and a network (e.g. awireless Internet network), so as to transmit or receive various data ofthe electronic device 500 to or from an external electronic device 104or a server 106. The WLAN module 513 may always maintain an on-state, ormay be turned on based on settings of the electronic device 500 or auser input.

The short range communication module 515 may be a module for performingshort range communication. The short range communication technology mayinclude Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), radio frequencyidentification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), ultrawideband(UWB), ZigBee, near field communication (NFC), etc. The short rangecommunication module 515 may be linked with another external electronicdevice (e.g. the audio device 450), which is connected to the electronicdevice 500 through a network (e.g. a short range communication network),so as to transmit or receive various data of the electronic device 500to or from the external electronic device. The short range communicationmodule 515 may always maintain an on-state, or may be turned on based onsettings of the electronic device 500 or a user input.

The location calculation module 517 may have a configuration identicalto, or similar to, the GNSS module 227 of FIG. 2. The locationcalculation module 517 is a module for obtaining the location of theelectronic device 500, and may include a global position system (GPS)module. The location calculation module 517 may measure the location ofthe electronic device 500 through a triangulation principle.

The user input unit 520 may have a configuration identical to, orsimilar to, the input device 250 of FIG. 2. The user input unit 520 maygenerate input data for controlling an operation of the electronicdevice 500 in response to a user input. The user input unit 520 mayinclude at least one input device for detecting various inputs of auser. For example, the user input unit 520 may include a keypad, a domeswitch, a physical button, a touch pad (resistive type/capacitive type),a jog & shuttle, and a sensor (e.g. the sensor module 240).

Some elements of the user input unit 520 may be implemented in the formof a button located outside the electronic device 500, or may beimplemented in the form of a touch panel. The user input unit 520 mayreceive a user input for initiating an operation (e.g. a hearing testfunction for creating audio compensation information) of the electronicdevice 500 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure,and may generate an input signal according to the user input.

The touch screen 530 is an input/output device which may perform aninput function and a display function together, and may include adisplay 531 (e.g. the display 160 or 260) and a touch detection unit533. The touch screen 530 may provide an input/output interface betweenthe electronic device 500 and the user, may transfer a touch input ofthe user to the electronic device 500, and may display an output fromthe electronic device 500 to the user. The touch screen 530 may displaya visual output to the user. The visual output may be displayed in theform of text, graphics, videos, and a combination thereof.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the display531 may display (output) various pieces of information processed in theelectronic device 500. For example, the display 531 may display a userinterface (UI) or a graphical user interface (GUI) related to anoperation which the electronic device 500 performs while being chargedor an operation of performing data communication according to a USBinterface connection. The display 531 may use various displays (e.g. thedisplay 160). The display 531 may use a curved display.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the display531 may include a display control circuit (e.g. a display driver IC(DDI)) which provides an electrical signal (e.g. a multi high voltagelevel (MHVL) signal) to a display panel. The display control circuit isan element in the display 531, which provides a driving signal and datato the display 531 by using an electrical signal (e.g. an MHVL signal)so that an image (e.g. text, pictures, still images, dynamic images) isdisplayed on a screen, and may drive various types displays, such asLCD, PDP and OLED.

The touch detection unit 533 may have a configuration identical to, orsimilar to, the touch panel 252 of FIG. 2. The touch detection unit 533may be mounted on the display 531 and may detect a user input whichtouches or is proximate to a surface of the touch screen 530. The userinput may include a touch event or proximity event, which includes asingle touch, a multi-touch, a hovering, and an air gesture. The touchdetection unit 533 may receive a user input for initiating an operationrelated to the use of the electronic device 500 and may generate aninput signal based on the user input.

The audio processing unit 540 may have a configuration identical to, orsimilar to, the audio module 280 of FIG. 2. The audio processing unit540 may transmit an audio signal received from the controller 580 to aspeaker (SPK) 541, and may transfer, to the controller 580, an audiosignal, such as a voice, which is received from a microphone (MIC) 543.The audio processing unit 540 may convert voice/sound data into audiblesound through the speaker 541 based on the control of the controller 580and may output the audible sound and may convert an audio signal, suchas a voice, which is received from the microphone 543 into a digitalsignal and transfer the digital signal to the controller 580. The audioprocessing unit 540 may output an audio signal on the basis of audiocompensation information which is compensated according to the controlof the controller 580.

The speaker 541 may output audio data that is received from the wirelesscommunication unit 510 or stored in the memory 550. The speaker 541 mayoutput an audio signal associated with various operations (functions)performed by the electronic device 500.

The microphone 543 may receive an input of an external audio signal andprocess the same as electrical voice data. Various noise reductionalgorithms may be implemented in the microphone 543 or the controller580 in order to remove noise from an external audio signal. Themicrophone 543 may receive an audio stream, such as a voice instruction(e.g. a voice instruction for initiating data communication).

The memory 550 (e.g. the memory 130 or 230) may store one or moreprograms that are executed by the controller 580, and may execute afunction for temporarily storing input/output data. The input/outputdata may include, for example, a file or profile, such as a dynamicimage, an image, a picture, and audio data. The memory 550 storesacquired data. Data acquired in real time may be stored in a temporarystorage device, and data may be stored in a storage device for a longtime.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the memory550 may include a profile DB 551 and audio device information DB 553.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the profileDB 551 may indicate a database (DB) which includes a profile forcompensating for an audio output characteristic according to each deviceidentifier (e.g. ID) of an audio device. The profile DB 551 may have adevice identifier of an audio device and a profile created through ahearing test performed by an interaction between the electronic device500 and a user and stored memory 550. The profile DB 551 may store afrequency characteristic which reflects a device identifier (e.g. ID) ofan audio device and the hearing characteristics of a user. The deviceidentifier may use, for example, a MAC address of a device's Bluetoothchip, and the profile may be stored as a decibel (dB) value of afrequency according to each frequency band.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the audiodevice information DB 553 may indicate a DB which includes a deviceidentifier (e.g. ID) of an audio device or frequency information forcompensating for an audio output characteristic according to the type ofdevice. The audio device information DB 553 may have a device name (e.g.product name) of an audio device and the corresponding frequencyinformation, stored in a database. The audio device information DB 553may indicate a DB which stores a device identifier (e.g. ID) of an audiodevice and a unique frequency characteristic of the audio device asfrequency information files, respectively, and manages the files in adatabase.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the profileDB 551 and the audio device information DB 553 may be implemented in thecontroller 580 or an audio compensation module 585 of the controller580.

The memory 550 may have a configuration identical or similar to thememory 230 of FIG. 2. According to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the memory 550 may store one or more programs and data,which are related to executing an audio compensation function. The audiocompensation function converts an audio output characteristic inconsideration of the characteristics of an audio device and the hearingcharacteristics of a user. The memory 550 may store one or more programsand data, which are related to executing a hearing test function. Forexample, the memory 550 may store instructions for executing the audiocompensation function or the hearing test function. The memory 550 maystore instructions which instruct the controller 580 (e.g. one or moreprocessors) to acquire the identification information and/orcharacteristics of an audio device, at least partially based on aconnection to the audio device, select pre-stored audio adaptationinformation, at least partially based on the acquired information and/orcharacteristics, change an audio signal, at least partially based on theaudio adaptation information, and transmit the changed audio signal tothe audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theinstructions may include instructing the controller 580 to wirelesslyreceive identification information of an audio device from the audiodevice and instructing the controller 580 to acquire an impedancecharacteristic of the audio device and/or information on the audiodevice so as to determine the characteristics of the audio device, whenthe audio device is connected through the wired interface. Theinstructions may include instructing the controller 580 to provideselected audio to an audio device after a connection to the audiodevice, receive a user response to the audio through a user interface,and create audio adaptation information, at least partially based on thereceived response. The memory 550 may include one or more applicationmodules (or software modules).

The interface unit 560 may have a configuration identical to, or similarto, the interface 270 of FIG. 2. The interface unit 560 may receive dataor power from another external electronic device, and may transfer thedata or power to each element included in the electronic device 500. Theinterface unit 560 may enable the data inside the electronic device 500to be transmitted to another external electronic device. For example,the interface unit 560 may include a wired/wireless headphone port, anexternal charging device port, a wired/wireless data port, a memory cardport, an input/output port, a video input/output port, an earphone port,etc.

The camera module 570 (e.g. the camera module 291) supports aphotographing function of the electronic device 500. The camera module570 may photograph an object under control of the controller 580, andtransfer the photographed data (e.g. images) to the display 531 and thecontroller 580.

The controller 580 may control overall operations of the electronicdevice 500. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,the controller 580 may have a configuration identical to, or similar to,the processor 210 of FIG. 2. The controller 580 may detect a connectionto an audio device, and may process a hearing test in response to theconnected audio device or converting and outputting audiocharacteristics on the basis of audio compensation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 580 may include the audio compensation module 585. The audiocompensation module 585 may detect an audio device connection anddetermine whether to perform a hearing test or perform audio outputcharacteristic conversion. On the basis of a result of thedetermination, the audio compensation module 585 may process anoperation related to the hearing test or process an operation related toconverting the audio output characteristic to output audio. The audiocompensation module 585 may include a memory including at least one DBcorresponding to the profile DB 551 and the audio device information DB553. An operation of the audio compensation module 585 will be describedin detail with reference to the drawings.

The controller 580 may include one or more processors for controlling anoperation of the electronic device 500. The controller 580 may controloperations of hardware modules, such as the audio processing unit 540,the interface unit 560, and the display 531. The control operation ofthe controller 580 will be described in detail with reference to thedrawings.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thecontroller 580 may be linked with software modules stored in the memory550 so as to perform an audio compensation and hearing test operationbased on an audio device characteristic of the electronic device 500.The controller 580 may be embodied as one or more processors that areconfigured to control an operation of the electronic device 500 byexecuting one or more programs stored in the memory 550.

The power supply unit 590 may receive external power or internal powerbased on the control of the controller 580 and supply power required forthe operation of each element. According to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the power supply unit 590 may provide, or cut off,power supply to the display 531, the camera module 570, and the like onthe basis of a control of the controller 580.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in acomputer or a similar non-transitory device-readable recording mediumthrough software, hardware or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, an operation of processing an audio output will bedescribed according to various embodiments of the present disclosurewith reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. A description of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8will be made by using an example in which the audio compensation module585 includes at least one DB corresponding to the profile DB 551 and theaudio device information DB 553. However, the present disclosure is notlimited to this embodiment. As in the above description made withreference to FIG. 5, the audio compensation module 585 may receiverelevant information stored in the profile DB 551 and audio deviceinformation DB 553 of the memory 550 so as to process an audio output.

FIG. 6 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of the controller580 (e.g. the audio compensation module 585) when the audio device 450,which is connected to the electronic device 500, is an active audiodevice. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theactive audio device is configured to have an internal digital circuitwhich may establish wireless communication (e.g. Bluetooth) with theelectronic device 500 and may include an audio output device having adevice identifier (e.g. ID).

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the audio device 450 is connected, theelectronic device 500 may detect (perform ID detection) a deviceidentifier (e.g. ID) of the audio device 450 through a detector 610. Thedetector 610 may detect whether the device identifier of the audiodevice 450 is a device identifier registered in a profile DB 630 (e.g.an audio device hearing profile DB) of the electronic device 500. Theprofile DB 630 may be implemented and used inside the audio compensationmodule 585, or may be implemented (e.g. according to FIG. 5) and usedoutside (e.g. the memory 550) the audio compensation module. Table 1below shows an example of the profile DB 630 in which a profile for eachaudio device is registered.

TABLE 1 ID (Device MAC Address) Profile 00:12:a1:67:37:73 [25, 20, 20,15, 20, 30, 15, 30, 25, 10, 15, 20] 08:b1:37:21:85:a1 [15, 25, 20, 20,25, 35, 20, 25, 15, 15, 20, 25] 05:12:a1:38:58:12 [25, 20, 20, 15, 20,30, 15, 30, 25, 10, 15, 20] 00:14:a1:38:68:42 [25, 15, 20, 15, 20, 30,15, 30, 25, 15, 15, 20]

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the profileDB 630 may include a database for storing a frequency characteristicwhich reflects a device identifier (e.g. ID) of the audio device 450 andthe hearing characteristics of a user. The device identifier may use,for example, a MAC address of Bluetooth, and the profile may store adecibel (dB) value of a frequency according to each frequency band. Theprofile DB 630 may be created by generating a database from a deviceidentifier of an audio device, and the test which has been completedthrough a hearing test 640. The electronic device 500 may include ameasurement device (e.g. hearing test unit) for the hearing test 640 andmay perform measurements by software processing.

When it is determined that the connected audio device 450 is an audiodevice registered in the profile DB 630, for example, when there is adevice identifier of the audio device 450 existing in the profile DB630, the electronic device 500 may change a current profile 620 to therelevant profile registered in the profile DB 630.

When it is determined that the connected audio device 450 is not anaudio device registered in the profile DB 630, for example, when thereis no device identifier of the audio device 450 in the profile DB 630,the electronic device 500 may perform the hearing test 640 for creatinga profile related to the connected audio device 450.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 500 may provide a user interface for a hearing test through thedisplay 531 and may perform the hearing test 640 through userinteraction using the user interface. The electronic device 500 mayreflect (e.g. convolute) a user's hearing characteristics correspondingto the frequency characteristic of the audio device 450 connected inresponse to the user input 520 and then store the result (e.g. aprofile) of the reflection in the profile DB 630. In other words, theelectronic device 500 may store a result reflected after a user hearingtest is performed according to each audio device 450 as a profile ofeach audio device 450. Thereafter, when the audio device 450 accessesthe electronic device 500, the electronic device 500 may automaticallyapply a profile related to the connected audio device 450 to the currentprofile 620 of the current user and output audio as a frequency whichreflects the user hearing characteristics related to the connected audiodevice 450. The profile DB 630 may store profiles related to multipleusers of the audio device 450.

FIG. 7 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 illustrates an operation of the controller580 (e.g. the audio compensation module 585) when the audio device 450,which is connected to the electronic device 500, is an active audiodevice. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theactive audio device is configured to have an internal digital circuitwhich may establish wireless communication (e.g. Bluetooth) with theelectronic device 500 and may include a device identifier (e.g. ID).

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the audio device 450 is connected, theelectronic device 500 may detect a device identifier (e.g. ID) of theconnected audio device 450 through a detector 710. According to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the detector 710 may determinefrequency information corresponding to the detected device identifier inan audio device information DB 740 of the electronic device 500. Theaudio device information DB 740 may be implemented and used inside theaudio compensation module 585, or may be implemented (e.g. according toFIG. 5) and used outside (e.g. the memory 550) the audio compensationmodule. The audio device information DB 740 may store a databaseincluding a device name (e.g. product name) and frequency information ofthe connected audio device 450. Table 2 below shows an example of theaudio device information DB 740.

TABLE 2 Active Audio Acc. Frequency Info. 00:12:a1:67:37:73 [5, 20, 10,15, 20, 30, 15, 30, 25, 10, 15, 20] 08:b1:37:21:85:a1 [1, 5, 0, 20, 25,35, 0, 25, 15, 15, 0, 5] 05:12:a1:38:58:12 [5, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 5, 10, 15,0, 15, 20] 06:14:a1:38:58:11 [5, 10, 0, 5, 0, 10, 5, 10, 15, 0, 15, 20]

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the audiodevice information DB 740 may indicate a DB which stores a deviceidentifier (e.g. ID) of the audio device 450 or frequency informationfor compensating for an audio output characteristic according to thetype of device. The audio device information DB 740 may indicate a DBwhich stores a device identifier (e.g. ID) of an audio device and aunique frequency characteristic of the audio device as frequencyinformation files, respectively, and renders the files into a databaseto manage the files.

The electronic device 500 may determine whether the frequencyinformation of the connected audio device 450 corresponds to currentlyestablished frequency information. When the frequency information of theconnected audio device 450 corresponds to the currently establishedfrequency information, the electronic device 500 may create a userhearing aid profile 720 on the basis of the corresponding frequencyinformation. For example, the electronic device 500 may combine thecurrently established frequency information and a user's pre-establishedhearing characteristics to create an optimized profile in which thefrequency characteristic of the connected audio device 450 and theuser's hearing characteristics are considered and compensated for. Theelectronic device 500 may change a current profile 730 to the createdprofile.

When the frequency information of the connected audio device 450 doesnot correspond to the currently established frequency information, theelectronic device 500 may search for the frequency information of theaudio device 450 from among frequency information according to eachaudio device registered in the audio device information DB 740. Theelectronic device 500 may search for the device identifier of the audiodevice 450 in the audio device information DB 740 or may directly searchfor the corresponding frequency information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when theaudio device information DB 740, includes the device identifier of theaudio device 450 and the corresponding frequency information, theelectronic device 500 may change the currently established frequencyinformation to the frequency information in the audio device informationconverter 750. For example, the electronic device 500 may replace thecurrently established frequency information with frequency informationof the currently connected audio device 450, which is stored in theaudio device information DB 740. The electronic device 500 may createthe user hearing aid profile 720 on the basis of the replaced frequencyinformation. For example, the electronic device 500 may combine thechanged frequency information and a user's pre-established hearingcharacteristics to create an optimized profile in which the frequencycharacteristic of the connected audio device 450 and the user's hearingcharacteristics are considered and compensated for. The electronicdevice 500 may change the current profile 730 to the created profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when thedevice identifier of the audio device 450 and the correspondingfrequency information are not in the audio device information DB 740,the electronic device 500 may update (e.g. register) the audio deviceinformation DB 740. The electronic device 500 may be connected to (maycommunicate with) a server which provides audio device information, andmay receive the audio device information from the server throughwireless communication (e.g. Internet and the like) to update the audiodevice information DB 740. A user may directly input a valuecorresponding to the audio device information, and the electronic device500 may update the audio device information DB 740 on the basis of thevalue, which is input by the user, corresponding to the audio deviceinformation. The electronic device 500 may directly download frequencyinformation recorded in an audio device, which is connected throughBluetooth and the like, from the audio device to update the audio deviceinformation DB 740.

FIG. 8 illustrates processing an audio output in an electronic deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 illustrates of an operation of thecontroller 580 (e.g. the audio compensation module 585) when the audiodevice 450, which is connected to the electronic device 500, is apassive audio device. The passive audio device may establish wiredcommunication (e.g. connector connection) with the electronic device500, may not have an internal digital circuit, and may include audiooutput devices having different resistances (or impedances).

As illustrated in FIG. 8, when the audio device 450 is connected, theelectronic device 500 may determine the resistance of the audio device450 through impedance detection in a detector 810. The electronic device500 may determine, on the basis of the determined resistance, frequencyinformation related to the currently connected audio device 450.According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thefrequency information related to the audio device 450 may be determinedon the basis of a mapping table in which frequency information is mappedaccording to various resistances of the passive audio device. The audiodevice 450 may utilize a resistance of an existing 3-pole or 4-pole earjack and may also utilize any one pole among 3 poles (or terminals) or 4poles (or terminals) as a pole for transferring an ID for identificationof an audio device. The audio device 450 having 5 poles or more mayutilize any one terminal of the 5 poles as a pole for transferring an IDfor identification of an audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the detector810 may determine frequency information corresponding to the currentlyconnected audio device 450 in an audio device information DB 840 of theelectronic device 500. The audio device information DB 840 may beimplemented and used inside the audio compensation module 585, or may beimplemented (e.g. in the form of FIG. 5) and used outside (e.g. thememory 550) the audio compensation module. The audio device informationDB 840 may store a database including a device name (e.g. product name)and frequency information of the connected audio device 450. Table 3below shows an example of the audio device information DB 840.

TABLE 3 Passive Audio Acc. Frequency Info. MDR-1RBT MK2 [5, 0, 10, 10,20, 30, 15, 30, 25, 20, 25, 20] PX200-II [2, 5, 0, 20, 25, 30, 10, 25,15, 15, 0, 5] MOMENTUM [5, 5, 0, 5, 0, 0, 5, 10, 15, 0, 15, 20] AKG K450[5, 5, 5, 0, 5, 5, 0, 5, 15, 15, 20, 25] AKG K560 [5, 5, 5, 0, 5, 5, 0,15, 15, 15, 25, 25]

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the audiodevice information DB 840 may indicate a DB which stores a deviceidentifier (e.g. a resistance value) of the audio device 450 orfrequency information for compensating for an audio outputcharacteristic according to the type (e.g. a device name) of device. Theaudio device information DB 840 may indicate a DB which stores a deviceidentifier (e.g. resistance value) of an audio device and a uniquefrequency characteristic of the audio device as frequency informationfiles, respectively, and renders the files into a database to manage thefiles.

The electronic device 500 may determine whether the frequencyinformation of the connected audio device 450 corresponds to currentlyestablished frequency information. When the frequency information of theconnected audio device 450 corresponds to the currently establishedfrequency information, the electronic device 500 may create a userhearing aid profile 820 on the basis of the corresponding frequencyinformation. For example, the electronic device 500 may combine thecurrently established frequency information and a user's pre-establishedhearing characteristics to create an optimized profile in which thefrequency characteristic of the connected audio device 450 and theuser's hearing characteristics are considered and compensated for. Theelectronic device 500 may change a current profile 830 to the createdprofile.

When the frequency information of the connected audio device 450 doesnot correspond to the currently established frequency information, theelectronic device 500 may provide, to the user, frequency informationaccording to each audio device registered in the audio deviceinformation DB 840. For example, the electronic device 500 may display alist of audio devices registered in the audio device information DB 840through a user interface by using the display 531. The electronic device500 may receive the user input 520 which selects a particular audiodevice (e.g. a model corresponding to the currently connected audiodevice) from the user through the user interface. The user may select anitem (e.g. device name) corresponding to the currently connected audiodevice 450 from the list provided through the user interface. In thecase of a passive audio device, the user may manually select frequencyinformation because there is no device identifier (e.g. ID). Theoperation of the electronic device is not limited thereto, and theelectronic device may be operated to detect each resistance included inthe passive audio device as a unique device identifier and thenautomatically select frequency information.

When the frequency information of the audio device 450 is selected, theelectronic device 500 may change the currently established frequencyinformation to the selected frequency information through an audiodevice information converter 850. For example, the electronic device 500may change the currently established frequency information to frequencyinformation of the currently connected audio device 450, which isselected from the audio device information DB 840. The electronic device500 may create the user hearing aid profile 820 on the basis of thechanged frequency information. For example, the electronic device 500may combine the changed frequency information and a user'spre-established hearing characteristics to create an optimized profilein which the frequency characteristic of the connected audio device 450and the user's hearing characteristics are considered and compensatedfor. The electronic device 500 may change the current profile 830 to thecreated profile.

FIG. 9A illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9B illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, an audio device used while being connectedto the electronic device 500 may include a wired audio device (e.g. awired earphone, a wired headphone) and a wireless audio device (e.g. awireless earphone, a wireless headphone). The wired audio device (e.g. apassive audio device) may have a difference in sound quality andcharacteristics on the basis of various resistances (e.g. 16 ohm, 32ohm, 300 ohm, etc.). Further, the wireless audio device (e.g. an activeaudio device) may also show various characteristics according to thetype or the manufacturer thereof. For example, FIG. 9A shows an exampleof the frequency characteristic of a first audio device and FIG. 9Bshows an example of the frequency characteristic of a second audiodevice. In a frequency comparison in the 1 KHz band, a volume differencemay be generated according to each audio device, causing a change whicha user may hear.

FIG. 10A illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 10B illustrates the result of a change in an audio outputcharacteristic in an electronic device according to another embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the characteristics of an audio device may bechanged on the basis of a user's hearing characteristics. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 10A, it may possible to create an anti-phasefrequency (dotted line) (e.g. compensation frequency) of a frequency(solid line) of a preregistered audio device and make a frequencyconverge to zero by multiplying a basic frequency and the compensationfrequency. Thereafter, new frequency information may be created throughmultiplying the frequency information of the connected audio device bythe created frequency information and mapping and storing the result asa characteristic of the audio device. In other words, the frequencycharacteristic of the audio device may be changed in consideration ofthe user's hearing characteristics. Therefore, the user may configuresound quality optimized to the user's hearing characteristics accordingto each audio device, and, when the user makes a call or listens toaudio of music or video while an audio device is connected, the user maylisten to audio having an optimized sound quality.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may include a user interface, a wired or wirelessinterface configured to establish a connection to an audio device, amemory, and one or more processors that are electrically connected tothe user interface, the memory, and the wired or wireless interface,wherein the memory, at the time of execution, stores instructions thatinstruct the one or more processors to, acquire identificationinformation and/or characteristics of the audio device, at leastpartially based on the connection to the audio device, select pre-storedaudio adaptation information, at least partially based on the acquiredinformation and/or characteristics, change an audio signal, at leastpartially based on the audio adaptation information, and transmit thechanged audio signal to the audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device store instructions which may include instructing theprocessors to wireless receive the identification information of theaudio device from the audio device. The instructions may includeinstructing the processors to acquire an impedance characteristic of theaudio device and/or audio device information to determine thecharacteristics of the audio device, when the audio device is connectedto the wired interface. The instructions may include instructing theprocessors to provide a selected audio to the audio device after aconnection to the audio device, receive a user response to the audiothrough the user interface, and create the audio adaptation information,at least partially based on the received response.

As described above, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the electronic device includes a communication interfaceconfigured to establish a connection to an audio device, a memory, andone or more processors that are electrically connected to the memory andthe communication interface, wherein the one or more processors performdetermining audio adaptation information related to the audio device inresponse to the audio device connection, correcting an audio outputcorresponding to the audio device on the basis of the audio adaptationinformation when the audio adaption information has been registered, andupdating, when the audio adaption information has not been registered,the audio adaptation information related to the audio device andcorrecting an audio output corresponding to the characteristics of theaudio device on the basis of the updated audio adaptation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device includes a wired or wireless interface configured toestablish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and one or moreprocessors that are electrically connected to the memory and the wiredor wireless interface, wherein the memory, at the time of execution,stores instructions that instruct the one or more processors to,establish audio adaptation information on the basis of a frequencycharacteristic of the audio device and a user's hearing characteristics,detect a connection of the audio device, determine audio adaptationinformation related to a connected audio device, convert a currentlyestablished audio output characteristic to an audio outputcharacteristic corresponding to the connected audio device on the basisof the determined audio adaptation information, and process an audiooutput on the basis of the converted audio output characteristic.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the audioadaptation information may be configured to include a profile forcompensating for an audio output characteristic according to each audiodevice, or frequency information of the audio device. The memory may beconfigured to include a profile DB which stores device information ofthe audio device and a profile, and an audio device information DB whichstores device information and frequency information of the audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to combine a unique frequencycharacteristic of the audio device and a user's hearing characteristicsto establish audio adaption information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to determine whether to perform, inresponse to the detection of the audio device connection, a hearing testor perform audio output characteristic conversion based onpre-established audio adaptation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to provide a user interface whendetermining to perform the hearing test, perform a hearing test whichcombines the frequency characteristic of a connected audio device and auser's hearing characteristics according to an interaction with the userbased on the user interface, and create a profile related to theconnected audio device on the basis of the result of the hearing test.The one or more processors may be configured to convert a currentlyestablished profile to the created profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to determine the frequency informationof a connected audio device in response to the audio device connection,combine currently established frequency information and a user's hearingcharacteristics when the frequency information of the audio devicecorresponds to the currently established frequency information,automatically search for the frequency information of the connectedaudio device in the audio device information DB when the frequencyinformation of the audio device does not correspond to the currentlyestablished frequency information, convert the currently establishedfrequency information to the stored frequency information; and combinethe converted frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to provide a list of audio deviceswith reference to the audio device information DB when the frequencyinformation of the audio device does not correspond to the currentlyestablished frequency information, and convert the currently establishedfrequency information to frequency information manually selected by theuser on the basis of the list.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to create a profile by the combinationof the converted frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics and convert a current profile currently established inthe electronic device to the created profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to perform detecting an audio deviceconnection, determining audio adaptation information related to theaudio device in response to the audio device connection, correcting anaudio output corresponding to the audio device on the basis of the audioadaptation information when the audio adaption information has beenregistered, updating the audio adaptation information related to theaudio device when the audio adaption information has not beenregistered, and correcting an audio output corresponding to acharacteristic of the audio device on the basis of the updated audioadaptation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors, at the time of updating, may be configured to performproviding a user interface when determining to perform the hearing test,carrying out the hearing test which combines the characteristics of aconnected audio device and a user's hearing characteristics according toan interaction with the user based on the user interface, and creating aprofile related to the connected audio device on the basis of the resultof the hearing test.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors, at the time of updating, may be configured to performdetermining the frequency information of a connected audio device inresponse to an audio device connection, combining currently establishedfrequency information and a user's hearing characteristics when thefrequency information of the audio device corresponds to the currentlyestablished frequency information, automatically searching for frequencyinformation of the connected audio device in the audio deviceinformation DB when the frequency information of the audio device doesnot correspond to the currently established frequency information,converting the currently established frequency information to the storedfrequency information; and combining the converted frequency informationand the user's hearing characteristics.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors, at the time of updating, may be configured to performproviding a list of audio devices with reference to the audio deviceinformation DB when the frequency information of the audio device doesnot correspond to the currently established frequency information,converting the currently established frequency information to frequencyinformation manually selected by the user on the basis of the list, andcombining the converted frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the one ormore processors may be configured to perform creating a profile by thecombination of the converted frequency information and the user'shearing characteristics and converting a current profile currentlyestablished in the electronic device to the created profile, andconverting and outputting audio on the basis of the characteristics ofthe converted profile.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for outputting audio in anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, in step 1101, the controller 580 establishes audiocompensation information on the basis of the characteristics (e.g.frequency characteristic) of an audio device and a user's hearingcharacteristics. For example, the user may perform compensation (e.g.hearing test for a connected audio device) according to a user's hearingcharacteristics with respect to various audio devices by using theelectronic device 500, and the electronic device 500 may create audiocompensation information (e.g. a profile) related to the audio device onthe basis of the result of the hearing test. The audio compensationinformation according to each audio device may be managed as a DB, asdescribed above.

In step 1103, the controller 580 detects the connection of the audiodevice. For example, the user may connect an audio device, to theelectronic device 500. On the basis of the type of audio device, theuser may connect the audio device to the electronic device 500 throughwireless communication (e.g. Bluetooth) or may connect the audio deviceto the electronic device 500 through wired communication (e.g.connector).

In step 1105, the controller 580 changes an audio output characteristicto correspond to the audio device on the basis of pre-established audiocompensation information corresponding to the audio device. Thecontroller 580 may change a currently established audio outputcharacteristic (e.g. a current profile) to an audio outputcharacteristic corresponding to the connected audio device in responseto the detection of the audio device connection.

In step 1107, the controller 580 outputs audio on the basis of thechanged audio output characteristic and transfers the output audio tothe connected audio device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for correcting an audiooutput in an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, in step 1201, the controller 580 may detect theconnection of an audio device.

In step 1203, the controller 580 determines audio compensationinformation related to a connected audio device. For example, thecontroller 580 may determine whether there is audio compensationinformation (e.g. a profile, frequency information) related to theconnected audio device in a pre-established DB (e.g. a profile DB, anaudio device information DB).

When the controller 580 determines, in step 1203, that there is audiocompensation information related to the audio device, the controller 580performs, in step 1211, audio output correction corresponding to acurrently connected audio device by using the audio compensationinformation.

When the controller 580 does not determine, in step 1203, that there isaudio compensation information related to the audio device, thecontroller 580 determines, in step 1221, whether to update the audiocompensation information related to the connected audio device andprovide a guide for the updating. For example, the controller 580 maydetermine whether audio is established, and may output a relevant userinterface in response to a user selection (e.g. approval/rejection).Step 1221 may be excluded and the method may immediately proceed to step1223 to perform updating, depending on the setting of the electronicdevice 500.

In step 1223, the controller 580 updates the audio compensationinformation related to the audio device. For example, the controller 580may output a user interface, as in FIG. 17 described below, and mayperform a hearing test in response to a user input, which is inputthrough the user interface, and determine the result (e.g. audiocompensation information) of the hearing test.

In step 1225, the controller 580 registers information (e.g. deviceinformation, device identifier) on a currently connected audio deviceand the audio compensation information. For example, the controller 580may update the information on the audio device and relevant audiocompensation information in a pre-established DB.

In step 1227, the controller 580 performs audio output correctioncorresponding to the currently connected audio device by using the audiocompensation information.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing an audio output in anelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 13, in step 1301, the controller 580 detects theconnection of an audio device.

In steps 1303 and 1305, the controller 580 identifies an audio deviceand determines whether a currently connected audio device corresponds toa pre-registered audio device. For example, the controller 580 maydetect a device identifier (e.g. ID, resistance value) of the connectedaudio device in response to the detection of the audio deviceconnection, and may determine whether the detected device identifier isregistered in the pre-established DB.

When the controller 580 determines, in step 1305, that the connectedaudio device is a registered audio device (“Yes” in step 1305), thecontroller 580 determines, in step 1307, audio compensation informationcorresponding to the audio device.

In step 1309, the controller 580 converts an audio output characteristicrelated to the currently connected audio device on the basis of audiocompensation information according to the result of the determination.

When the controller 580 determines, in step 1305, that the connectedaudio device is an unregistered audio device (“No” in step 1305), thecontroller 580 determines the type of connected audio device in step1311. For example, the controller 580 may determine whether theconnected audio device is an active audio device or a passive audiodevice. In addition, the controller 580 may determine whether theconnected audio device is wirelessly connected or is wired connected.Further, when it is determined that the connected audio device is anactive audio device, the controller 580 may determine whether the deviceidentifier (e.g. ID) of the audio device is registered in a profile DBor the device information (e.g. frequency information) of the audiodevice is registered in an audio device information DB.

In step 1313, the controller 580 determines an updating modecorresponding to the determined type of audio device and performs thedetermined updating mode. The controller 580 may provide a userinterface for a hearing test, as in FIG. 17 described below, and mayperform the updating mode, such as performing the hearing test byinteraction with a user based on the user interface. Further, thecontroller 580 may search the audio device information DB for frequencyinformation of the currently connected audio device, and may perform theupdating mode, such as combining a user's hearing characteristics withthe stored frequency information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when thedevice identifier of the audio device and the corresponding frequencyinformation are not in the audio device information DB, the controller580 may update (e.g. register) the audio device information DB. Thecontroller 580 may be connected to (may communicate with) a server whichprovides audio device information, and may receive the audio deviceinformation from the server through wireless communication (e.g.Internet and the like) to update the audio device information DB. Theuser may directly input a value corresponding to the audio deviceinformation, and the controller 580 may update the audio deviceinformation DB on the basis of the value, which is input by the user,corresponding to the audio device information. The controller 580 maydirectly download frequency information recorded in an audio device,which is connected through Bluetooth and the like, from the audio deviceto update the audio device information DB.

In step 1315, the controller 580 creates audio compensation informationon the basis of the result of performing the updating mode and registersthe created audio compensation information.

In step 1317, the controller 580 converts an audio output characteristicrelated to the current connected audio device on the basis of thecreated audio compensation information.

In step 1319, the controller 580 processes an audio output on the basisof the audio output characteristic converted in step 1309 or step 1317.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for creating audiocompensation information in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 illustrates an example of performing anupdating mode on the basis of a hearing test.

In step 1401, when an audio device is connected, the controller 580detects an ID of the connected audio device. For example, a user mayoperate an active audio device, such as a Bluetooth headphone, to beconnected to the electronic device 500 through Bluetooth communication.When detecting the audio device connection through the Bluetoothcommunication, the controller 580 may confirm a device identifier whichis provided from the audio device at the time of establishing Bluetoothcommunication connection (e.g. a pairing process).

In step 1403, the controller 580 determines whether the ID of theconnected audio device is registered in a pre-established profile DB.For example, the controller 580 may determine whether the ID of theaudio device is registered in a profile DB of the electronic device 500,such as the above-described Table 1.

When it is determined, in step 1403, that the ID of the audio device isregistered in the profile DB (“Yes” in step 1403), the controller 580changes, in step 1411, a currently established profile by using aprofile registered in the profile DB, as described above, withoutperforming an update.

When it is not determined in step 1403 that the ID of the audio deviceis registered in the profile DB, the controller 580 performs, in step1405, a hearing test for testing a user's hearing. For example, when anID corresponding to the connected audio device is not found in theprofile DB, the controller 580 performs the update. When performing theupdate, the controller 580 may provide a user interface, as shown inFIG. 17 described below, and may perform a hearing test throughinteraction with the user on the basis of the user interface. The usermay be wearing an audio device connected to the electronic device 500(e.g. wearing a Bluetooth headphone or headset).

In step 1407, the controller 580 determines the result of the user'shearing test related to the audio device. For example, the controller580 may determine the user's hearing characteristics related to thecurrently connected audio device, and may create a profile correspondingto the determined hearing characteristics.

In step 1409, the controller 580 updates the profile DB on the basis ofthe result of the hearing test. The controller 580 may additionallyregister, in the profile DB, an ID of the connected audio device and aprofile in which the user's hearing characteristics are considered withrespect to the corresponding audio device. For example, the profile DB,such as shown in Table 1, may be updated by adding the ID of the audiodevice and the profile to the profile DB.

In step 1411, the controller 580 changes the currently establishedprofile by using a profile registered in the profile DB.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for creating audiocompensation information in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 15, FIG. 15 illustrates an example of automaticallyperforming an update on the basis of device information (e.g. frequencyinformation) of an audio device.

In step 1501, when an audio device is connected, the controller 580detects an ID of the connected audio device. For example, a user mayoperate an active audio device, such as a Bluetooth headphone, connectedto the electronic device 500 through Bluetooth communication. When it isdetected that the audio device has been connected through Bluetoothcommunication, the controller 580 may confirm a device identifier anddevice information (e.g. frequency information), which are provided fromthe audio device at the time of establishing Bluetooth communicationconnection (e.g. a pairing process).

In step 1503, the controller 580 determines whether the deviceinformation (e.g. frequency information) of the connected audio devicecorresponds to the currently established device information. Thecontroller 580 may determine whether the device information of theconnected audio device matches the device information currentlyestablished in the electronic device 500.

When it is determined, in step 1503, that the device information of theaudio device corresponds to the currently established device information(“Yes” in step 1503), the controller 580 changes, in steps 1509 and1511, a current profile by using the currently established deviceinformation, as described above, without performing an update. Thecontroller 580 may combine, in step 1509, frequency information of anaudio device, which is connected to the electronic device, and a user'spre-established hearing characteristics by a method such as convolutionto create a profile, and may change, in step 1511, a currentlyestablished profile by using the created profile. A profile, in whichthe frequency information of the audio device and the user's hearingcharacteristics are combined by a method such as convolution, may beregistered in advance, or may be created in real time, as illustrated inFIG. 17.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, aconvolution method for creating a profile may be implemented, and willbe described below with reference to FIGS. 18, 19, and 20.

FIG. 18A illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18B illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 18C illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 18A to 18C, the convolution is a method for analyzinga signal in a time domain. For example, in the case where one signal(frequency information) has a relative time change with reference toanother signal (e.g. hearing characteristics), the convolution mayindicate a signal (e.g. profile) calculated through integration.Examples of such a convolution are shown in Equation (1) and Equation(2) below.y(t)=x(t)*h(t)=∫_(−∝) ^(+∝) x(τ)h(t−τ)dτ  Equation (1)x(t)*h(t)=X(w)×H(w)  Equation (2)

In Equation (1), when h(t) is a signal which represents an operation ofa system, y(t) may represent a state in which a signal passed throughthe system is changed. y(t) may refer to a process of synthesizing(combining) two different signals. For example, a convolutionalintegration of a time domain is converted via Fourier transform (FT) orfast Fourier transform (FFT) into a frequency domain as shown inEquation (1) and a value may be calculated through a multiplicationcalculation as shown in Equation (2). In Equations (1) and (2), thesymbol “*” may indicate a convolution calculation and the symbol “×” mayindicate a multiplication calculation.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in a convolutionmethod, various signals are convoluted to analyze a signal in the timedomain. For example, referring to FIGS. 18A to 18C, when two signals(e.g. x(t), h(t)) are completely overlapped as in the graph of FIG. 18Aand the graph of FIG. 18B, a signal as in the graph of FIG. 18C may beoutput. For example, a cycle is changed to be twice as long (2w) and atriangular wave signal, a peak (or maximum value, peak value, which is avalue of a signal when the signal is maximized) of which is “1”, may becreated.

FIG. 19 illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates a convolution method for creating a profile in anelectronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated inFIG. 19, a square wave may be used as an input signal. When a Fouriertransform is performed on the square wave on a time axis, the squarewave may be represented as a Sinc (sinus cardinalis (cardinal sine))signal (function) on the frequency axis. For example, a shape may beshown on the frequency axis according to a Fourier transform on atriangular wave. In other words, multiplication on the time axis mayindicate a convolution on the frequency axis, and multiplication on thefrequency axis may indicate a convolution on the time axis. In otherwords, multiplication and convolution may have a relation of duality(e.g. principle of duality) between them. Referring to FIG. 20, aconvolution of two square waves on the time axis is shown as atriangular wave on the time axis. This may indicate that an areaoverlapping when one figure is symmetrical about the “y” axis isexpressed as a value. Further, the convolution may be shown as Sinc²(square of Sinc) on the frequency axis.

Referring to FIG. 19 again, when the device information (e.g. frequencyinformation) of the audio device does not correspond to the currentlyestablished device information in step 1503 (“No” in step 1503), thecontroller 580 may automatically search for device information in step1505. For example, the controller 580 may search for device informationof a connected audio device in the audio device information DB, such asin Table 2. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure,when the device information of the connected audio device is not storedin the audio device information DB, the device information of theconnected audio device may be replaced with the currently establisheddevice information or device information established as a default.Further, when the device information of the connected audio device isnot stored in the audio device information DB, the controller 580 may beconnected to another external electronic device (e.g. an external serverfor managing device information according to each audio device) toacquire the device information. The controller 580 may map an ID of theconnected audio device and the acquired device information to update theaudio device information DB. For example, the controller 580 mayadditionally store the ID of the audio device and the acquired frequencyinformation in the audio device information DB, such as in Table 2.

In step 1507, the controller 580 may change the currently establisheddevice information by using the stored device information. For example,the controller 580 may establish the stored device information ascurrent device information of the electronic device 500.

In step 1509, the controller 580 may combine the device information andthe user's pre-established hearing characteristics by such a method asconvolution. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thecontroller 580 may combine frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics by such a method as convolution to create a profile.

In step 1511, the controller 580 may change a current profile on thebasis of a profile in which device information and hearingcharacteristics are considered and compensated for.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating creating audio compensationinformation in an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16, FIG. 16 illustrates an example of manuallyperforming an updating mode on the basis of device information (e.g.frequency information) of an audio device in various embodiments.

In step 1601, the controller 580 detects the connection of a wired audiodevice. For example, the user may connect a passive audio device, suchas a wired earphone, through an interface (e.g. connector) of theelectronic device 500. When detecting the connection of the audio devicethrough the interface, the controller 580 may detect the correspondingresistance information (e.g. resistance values, such as 16 ohm, 32 ohm,300 ohm) in response to resistance configured in the audio device.According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, whendetecting the connection of the wired audio device, the controller 580may determine the resistance of each audio device by using impedancedetection, and may determine device information (e.g. frequencyinformation) related to the corresponding audio device on the basis ofthe determined resistance. Device information of each passive audiodevice may be determined on the basis of a mapping table in which deviceinformation is mapped according to various resistances of the passiveaudio device.

In step 1603, the controller 580 determines whether the deviceinformation (e.g. frequency information) of the connected audio devicecorresponds to the currently established device information. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 580 maydetermine whether the device information of the currently connectedaudio device matches the device information currently established in theelectronic device 500.

When it is determined, in step 1603, that the device information of theaudio device corresponds to the currently established device information(“Yes” in step 1603), the controller 580 changes, in steps 1609 and1611, a profile by using the currently established device information,as described above, without performing an update. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 580 combines, instep 1609, frequency information of an audio device, which is connectedto the electronic device, and a user's pre-established hearingcharacteristics by a method such as convolution to create a profile, andchanges, in step 1611, a currently established profile by using thecreated profile. A profile, in which the frequency information of theaudio device and the user's hearing characteristics are combined by amethod such as convolution, may be registered in advance, or may becreated in real time, as illustrated in FIG. 16. The convolution methodas described with respect to FIGS. 18A, 18B, 18C, 19, and 20 in theabove-described FIG. 15 may be used.

When the device information (e.g. frequency information) of the audiodevice does not correspond to the currently established deviceinformation in step 1603 (“No” in step 1603), the controller 580manually selects device information in step 1605. For example, thecontroller 580 may display, through a user interface, a list of deviceinformation corresponding to an audio device information DB, such as inTable 3, and may receive selection of particular device information froma user through the user interface. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the user may select device information correspondingto a wired earphone connected to the electronic device 500 in the userinterface of the electronic device 500, while wearing the wiredearphone. The user may select, on the basis of a device name (e.g.product name), the device information corresponding to the connectedaudio device in the user interface.

In step 1607, the controller 580 changes the currently establisheddevice information by using the selected device information. Forexample, the controller 580 may establish the selected deviceinformation as current device information of the electronic device 500.

In step 1609, the controller 580 combines the changed established deviceinformation and the user's pre-established hearing characteristics by amethod such as convolution. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the controller 580 may combine frequency information and theuser's hearing characteristics by a method such as convolution to createa profile.

In step 1611, the controller 580 changes a current profile on the basisof a profile in which device information and hearing characteristics areconsidered and compensated for.

FIG. 17A illustrates a user interface for establishing an audio outputin an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 17B illustrates a user interface for establishing an audio outputin an electronic device according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

Referring to FIGS. 17A and 17B, FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate, in variousembodiments, an example of a user interface for a hearing test forapplying a user's hearing characteristics to an audio device connectedto the electronic device 500. Examples of FIGS. 17A and 17B may be toshow screenshots in which the hearing test is completed, a profilerelated to the corresponding audio device is registered in a profile DB,and the result of the registration is provided in response to a userselection or the detection of the audio device connection.

As illustrated in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the user interface includes aconfiguration area 1710 that may configure sound quality optimized to auser's ears and configure (e.g. turn on/turn off) whether to use afunction of outputting audio (e.g. adapt sound function), a firstinformation area 1720 that provides an optimized sound quality state toan audio device through a hearing test, a function selection area 1730including a button (e.g. RETRY button) for reconfiguring sound qualityoptimized to the audio device (e.g. performing the hearing test again)and a button (e.g. PREVIEW button) for previewing audio which is outputon the basis of currently configured optimized sound quality (e.g.profile), a second information area 1740 that provides configuredinformation in a direction (side) which is frequently used by the user,and a notification window 1750 or 1760 that provides information on anaudio device currently connected to the electronic device 500.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thenotification window 1750 or 1760 may be provided when the audio deviceis connected, and may provide information corresponding to the connectedaudio device. For example, FIG. 17A illustrates a case in which anactive audio device (e.g. Bluetooth headphone) is connected andinformation thereon (e.g. Samsung Premium Headset) is provided throughthe notification window 1750. FIG. 17B illustrates a case in which apassive audio device (e.g. wired earphone) is connected and informationthereon (e.g. earphone) is provided through the notification window1760. The notification windows 1750 and 1760 may provide information ona currently connected audio device in the form of a pop-up window.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an operationmethod of an electronic device includes detecting a connection to anaudio device, acquiring identification information and/orcharacteristics of the audio device, at least partially based on theconnection to the audio device, selecting pre-stored audio adaptationinformation, at least partially based on the acquired information and/orcharacteristics, changing an audio signal, at least partially based onthe audio adaptation information, and transmitting the changed audiosignal to the audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theoperation method further includes wirelessly receiving theidentification information of the audio device from the audio device.The operation method further includes acquiring an impedancecharacteristic of the audio device and/or audio device information anddetermining the characteristics of the audio device, when the audiodevice is connected through the wired interface. The operation methodfurther includes providing a selected audio to the audio device after aconnection to the audio device, receiving a user response to the audiothrough the user interface, and creating the audio adaptationinformation, at least partially based on the received response.

An operation method of an electronic device, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure, include detecting a connection toan audio device, determining audio adaptation information related to theaudio device in response to the connection of the audio device,correcting an audio output corresponding to the audio device on thebasis of the audio adaptation information when the audio adaptioninformation has been registered, updating the audio adaptationinformation related to the audio device when the audio adaptioninformation has not been registered, and correcting an audio outputcorresponding to a characteristic of the audio device on the basis ofthe updated audio adaptation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the audioadaptation information includes a profile for compensating for an audiooutput characteristic according to each audio device, or frequencyinformation of the audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the updatingof the audio adaptation information of the electronic device includescombining a unique frequency characteristic of the audio device and auser's hearing characteristics by a method such as convolution to updatethe audio adaptation information.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the updatingof the audio adaptation information of the electronic device includesproviding a user interface when determining to perform the hearing test,performing a hearing test which combines the frequency characteristic ofa connected audio device and a user's hearing characteristics by amethod such as convolution according to an interaction with the userbased on the user interface, and creating a profile related to theconnected audio device on the basis of the result of the hearing test.The operation method of the electronic device further includesconverting a current profile currently established in the electronicdevice to the created profile, and converting and outputting audiocharacteristics on the basis of the converted profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, thedetermining of the audio adaptation information of the electronic deviceincludes determining whether to perform, in response to the detection ofthe audio device connection, a hearing test or perform audio outputcharacteristic conversion based on pre-established audio adaptationinformation.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the updatingof the audio adaptation information of the electronic device includesdetermining the frequency information of a connected audio device inresponse to the audio device connection, combining currently establishedfrequency information and a user's hearing characteristics by a methodsuch as convolution when the frequency information of the audio devicecorresponds to the currently established frequency information,automatically searching for the frequency information of the connectedaudio device in an audio device information DB when the frequencyinformation of the audio device does not correspond to the currentlyestablished frequency information, converting the currently establishedfrequency information to the stored frequency information, and combiningthe converted frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics by a method such as convolution.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the updatingof the audio adaptation information of the electronic device includesproviding a list of audio devices with reference to the audio deviceinformation DB when the frequency information of the audio device doesnot correspond to the currently established frequency information,converting the currently established frequency information to frequencyinformation manually selected by the user on the basis of the list, andcombining the converted frequency information and the user's hearingcharacteristics by a method such as convolution. The operation method ofthe electronic device includes creating a profile by a combinationthrough a method such as convolution and converting a current profileestablished in the electronic device to the created profile, andconverting and outputting audio characteristics on the basis of theconverted profile.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device includes a wired or wireless interface configured toestablish a connection to an audio device, a memory, and one or moreprocessors electrically connected to the memory and the wired orwireless interface. The memory includes a profile DB which stores deviceinformation of the audio device and a profiles and an audio deviceinformation DB which stores the device information and frequencyinformation of the audio device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an operationmethod of an electronic device may be configured such that the one ormore processors performs establishing audio adaptation information onthe basis of a frequency characteristic of an audio device and a user'shearing characteristics, detecting a connection to the audio device,determining audio adaptation information related to a connected audiodevice, converting a currently established audio output characteristicto an audio output characteristic corresponding to the connected audiodevice on the basis of the determined audio adaptation information, andprocessing an audio output on the basis of the converted audio outputcharacteristic.

In order to solve the above-described technical problem, a method andapparatus for outputting audio in an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure may reflect a user'shearing characteristics according to each audio device to automaticallycompensate for the user's hearing characteristics and provide an outputaudio. A user may listen to audio optimized on the basis of thecharacteristics of an audio device and the user's hearingcharacteristics. Therefore, the user may listen to audio which hasbetter sound quality and volume.

The embodiments of the present disclosure disclosed herein and shown inthe drawings are examples presented in order to describe technicaldetails of the present disclosure and to help the understanding of thepresent disclosure, but do not limit the scope of the presentdisclosure. Therefore, it should be construed that, in addition to theembodiments disclosed herein, all modifications and changes or modifiedand changed forms derived from the technical idea of the presentdisclosure fall within the scope of the present disclosure as defined bythe appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: an audiointerface configured to establish a connection to an audio device; amemory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor,operatively coupled to the memory and the audio interface, wherein theat least one processor is configured to execute the stored instructionsto: identify the audio device, based on an established connection;identify audio adaptation information determined based on a frequencycharacteristic of the audio device and a hearing characteristic of auser of the electronic device; determine, based on identifying the audiodevice, whether the audio device corresponds to a pre-registered audiodevice or not; upon determining that the audio device corresponds to thepre-registered audio device, identify the audio adaptation informationfrom the data that has been registered in the electronic device; upondetermining that the audio device does not correspond to thepre-registered audio device, determine the audio adaptation informationby combining the frequency characteristic of the audio device and thehearing characteristic of the user; and output, via the audio device, anaudio signal, at least partially based on the identified audioadaptation information.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein theat least one processor is configured to execute the stored instructionsto: wirelessly receive, based on the established connection,identification information of the audio device from the audio device;and identify the audio device based on the received identificationinformation.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at leastone processor is configured to execute the stored instructions to: ifthe connection is by wire, identify the audio device by acquiring atleast one of an impedance characteristic of the audio device orinformation on the audio device to determine characteristics of theaudio device.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: adisplay, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toexecute the stored instructions to: provide selected audio to the audiodevice; receive a response to the selected audio through a userinterface presented via the display, the response corresponding to atleast one of the frequency characteristic or the hearing characteristicof the user; and generate the audio adaptation information, at leastpartially based on the received response.
 5. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toexecute the stored instructions to determine whether to perform ahearing test for establishing the audio adaptation information orperform an audio output characteristic conversion based on stored audioadaptation information.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5, furthercomprising: a display, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to execute the stored instructions to: provide, via thedisplay, a user interface when the processor determines to perform thehearing test; perform the hearing test by combining the frequencycharacteristic of the audio device with the hearing characteristic ofthe user according to a user's interaction on the user interface;generate a profile related to the audio device based on the result ofthe hearing test; and convert a profile, currently established in theelectronic device, to the generated profile.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the memory stores: a profile database (DB) configuredto store a profile of the audio device associated with deviceinformation of the audio device; and an audio device information DBconfigured to store frequency information of the audio device associatedwith the device information of the audio device, and wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to execute the storedinstructions to: determine frequency information of the audio devicebased on the frequency characteristic of the audio device; combinecurrently established frequency information and the hearingcharacteristic of the user when the determined frequency informationcorresponds to the currently established frequency information; andsearch for the frequency information stored in the audio deviceinformation DB when the determined frequency information does notcorrespond to the currently established frequency information, convertthe currently established frequency information to the determinedfrequency information, and generate a profile by combining the convertedfrequency information and the hearing characteristic of the user.
 8. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: provide a list of audio devices associated withthe audio device information DB when the determined frequencyinformation does not correspond to the currently established frequencyinformation; and convert the currently established frequency informationto frequency information selected by the user based on the list of audiodevices.
 9. A method of an electronic device, the method comprising:establishing a connection to an audio device; identifying the audiodevice based on the established connection; identifying audio adaptationinformation determined based on a frequency characteristic of the audiodevice and a hearing characteristic of a user of the electronic device;determining, based on identifying the audio device, whether the audiodevice corresponds to a pre-registered audio device or not; upondetermining that the audio device corresponds to the pre-registeredaudio device, identifying the audio adaptation information from datathat has been registered in the electronic device; upon determining thatthe audio device does not correspond to the pre-registered audio device,determining the audio adaptation information by combining the frequencycharacteristic of the audio device and the hearing characteristic of theuser; and outputting, via the audio device, an audio signal, at leastpartially based on the audio adaptation information.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the identifying the audio device comprises: if theconnection is by wire, identifying the audio device by acquiring atleast one of an impedance characteristic of the audio device orinformation on the audio device to determine the characteristics of theaudio device.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: providingselected audio to the audio device; receiving a response to the selectedaudio through a user interface presented via a display of the electronicdevice, the response corresponding to at least one of the frequencycharacteristic or the hearing characteristic of the user; and generatingthe audio adaptation information, at least partially based on thereceived response.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:determining whether to perform a hearing test for establishing the audioadaptation information or perform an audio output characteristicconversion based on stored audio adaptation information.
 13. The methodof claim 12, further comprising: providing, via a display of theelectronic device, a user interface when it is determined to perform thehearing test; performing the hearing test by combining the frequencycharacteristic of the audio device with the hearing characteristic ofthe user according to a user's interaction on the user interface;generating a profile related to the audio device based on the result ofthe hearing test; and converting a profile currently established in theelectronic device, to the generated profile.
 14. The method of claim 9,wherein the electronic device stores: a profile database (DB) configuredto store a profile of the audio device associated with deviceinformation of the audio device; and an audio device information DBconfigured to store frequency information of the audio device associatedwith the device information of the audio device, and wherein the methodfurther comprises: determining frequency information of the audio devicebased on the frequency characteristic of the audio device; combiningcurrently established frequency information and the hearingcharacteristic of the user when the determined frequency informationcorresponds to the currently established frequency information; andsearching for the frequency information stored in the audio deviceinformation DB when the determined frequency information does notcorrespond to the currently established frequency information,converting the currently established frequency information to thedetermined frequency information, and generating a profile by combiningthe converted frequency information and the hearing characteristic ofthe user.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: providing alist of audio devices associated with the audio device information DBwhen the determined frequency information does not correspond to thecurrently established frequency information; and converting thecurrently established frequency information to frequency informationselected by the user based on the list of audio devices.